Life as a mother of 2.

School has begun and our schedules are once again very busy. I've had to learn that its ok for the house to be a little messy, its ok for there to be toys everywhere and I don't need to put laundry away right away or dust every other day. I'm having to learn that I don't need to be superwoman.

I've discovered, not to my suprise though, that I have to be diligent about having a quiet time with God as soon as I get up and spending time in scripture - sure it means I have to put the cartoons on for Esther, but if I don't I find myself stressed and perhaps feeling a little depressed about my abilities to be a good wife and mother and time flies by, I keep meaning to talk to God and before I know it... its bedtime and I fall asleep praying.

Instead, I have found that starting my day spending time with my Father helps me to keep focused on Him all day, to keep me praying and talking to Him as I go about my day - He strengthens me, helps me to find joy throughout the day, to be more patient and calm when Esther is throwing a tantrum while I'm nursing Rachel! He helps me to be a better person, keeping my eyes on Christ.

I've learnt that I need to start cooking dinner earlier so that it gets done on time, because there are ALOT more distractions. Last night I started cooking late, since Esther was having so much fun at the park I didn;t want to take her home, I was enjoying watching her have fun (I'm still so tired that I'm at the sitting on a bench and smiling from a distance while wearing the baby stage)! So after taking me 3 hours to get dinner ready, it was 9 before we ate and Josh had to leave for work before dessert had baked!

I've discovered that buying in bulk is good - I think I am going to get a costco membership because the less shopping trips out, the better when you have to take a newborn and toddler with you! Plus, it saves money by buying in bulk, saves on gas and makes more time to spend at home with my precious ones.

I've been having alot of fun trying new recipes lately, so if you have any to share please let me know!

Esther has been fighting naps for a while now, so I've mostly given in and I have to admit that its actually working better for us for her not to have a nap. See, her taking a nap didn;t guarantee Rachel being asleep, so I wasn't getting to take a break or nap. Then Esther would not go to bed until 8:30-9, and still wake up at 5-6am. Rachel has a wakeful time at around 9-11, so I wasn't getting much sleep.(However Rachel is a great sleeper and once she gets to sleep, she is out until morning other than a little whimper to let me know that she wants to switch to nurse on the other side).

Without a nap, Esther will be in bed before 8 and will wake up around 7am. So that way I get some time with Josh before work/bed, then get a bit more sleep at night. Its funny what a big difference an hour at night and one in the morning makes to our lifes!

Rachel has a dairy allegy, so I've had to stop eating so many things that I get pleasure from... ice cream, my morning yoghurt, granola and fruit, cookies and milk... BUT I have found new pleasures in buying a wider range of fruit which is better for us! I found some good deals at sam's yesterday, and grapes and melon's are cheap this time of year so I've got a lovely stash of melon, grapes, pears, plums, apples and bananas, and also bought a big box of granola bars. So it seems that this is actually better for me and I am eating alot better - and already wearing me pre-pregnancy jeans!

I am participating in this years 'walk around campus', so far with the hot weather and 2 children, I have only made it out once and did 4 laps (4 miles) but I hope to step it up as we go into the cooler fall weather.

Esther is potty traing at the moment, and doing really well. We've switched her back into cloth for nights and outings now that i can stomach toddler diapers a little more since it helps her feel the wet and the cloth feel reminds her of her panties so she remembers to tell me she needs to go potty. We have a potty we take everywhere at the moment thats in the car!

I've got plans to move furniture around and re-do the house a bit. Here are some other projects you can expect to see:

- I am going to re-write my cloth diaper 101 for everyone who is trying to navigate the world of cloth diapering for the first time.

- I am going to begin a new seperate blog dedicated to my journey as a wife and mother and managing the household. I have been wanting to do this for a while, since I get alog of questions to I thought I blog would be a good idea. I'll be documenting my journey to becoming more thifty, being earth friendly while keeping costs down, recipes, menus, making household cleaners, sewing projects, how God is teaching me to be a more effective helper for my husband and mother. In the meanwhile I've found this blog really helpful

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